KARACHI: Having worn several hats during a career spanning over 50 years, the former governor Punjab, Shahid Hamid, has picked up the pen now. The online launch of Treasured Memories, his memoirs as the title suggests, was organised by the English Speaking Union of Pakistan (ESUP) here recently.

Speaking about penning his memoirs now, Shahid Hamid said that it was a new venture after being forced into retirement by his three daughters. “With nothing much to do, I started looking at old pictures in albums, which jogged memories. I also started thinking what do my grandchildren know about me? I encourage you all, too, to write your autobiographies,” he said.

He said that he is six years older than Pakistan. “My very first memory is from Calcutta [Kolkata now], where my father, an army officer, was posted. I was taken along to a function there with a little girl and together we presented a bouquet to the Quaid-i-Azam,” he said, adding that his book covers three generations.

Talking more about his father, he said that he later also served as military secretary to Governor General Ghulam Mohammad before joining the foreign service in 1954 as the family moved to a place in Clifton, Karachi, across the Mohatta Palace. “Karachi had a population of around 500,000 then. And Clifton was like an island. At high tide, there would be water on either side of the road,” he said.

About his schooling, he said that he attended Karachi Grammar School where half of his class-fellows and teachers, too, happened to be Anglo-Indians. “But most have left the country now,” he added.

More about his younger days includes memories of when he used to have the task of walking home his maternal uncle’s daughters in the evening. “There used to be three or four of them, including fashion designer Maheen, who still is my favourite friend from that time,” he said, going on to when he left for England for higher studies to discover racism, which he shrugged aside as he excelled in academics and sports.

He also travelled the length and breadth of Europe. “In Copenhagen, girls would touch our hair as they had never before seen black hair,” he laughed at the memory.

Coming to his career, he talked about the time when he was posted in Gopalganj in East Pakistan as a sub-divisional officer. He recalled how, due to too many floods in East Pakistan, the rice crop would be ruined and they had to often import wheat as the local people would start suffering from stomach ailments because they were so used to consuming rice.

Working in the planning and development department in East Pakistan also helped him in understanding the true grievances of that region. “Their population was more than the West side but the development budget was 50/50,” he pointed out.

“What about flood protection funds? What about military expenditure, which was only given to the West making them insecure. They were surrounded by India. What if they attacked them? The foreign exchange earned from jute exports also went to West Pakistan. The parting of ways was inevitable,” Mr Hamid pointed out. “And then when it did happen, there were people in West Pakistan, who said ‘good riddance. They are a basket case’,” he added, saying that today Pakistan’s GDP stands at $280 million while the GDP rate of Bangladesh is $320m.

As legal adviser, he shared that during the time of the late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, he found himself in a difficult spot when she was not happy with a decision by the then chief justice of Pakistan Sajjad Ali Shah, whom she had appointed, and she wanted Shahid Hamid to take her message to the CJP. “I asked why? I said I hardly knew him. I asked why doesn’t she tell the attorney general to go see him instead and convey the message. Well, nothing doing. I went to meet the CJP and reminded him from the start that he was a student of history and would know well not to shoot the messenger. We had a cup of tea and I gave him her massage. His face became stern. “Tell her she has appointed the chief justice and not her khansama [cook],” he said to me.

“Whether it is the CJP or the chief of army staff, whether the prime minister appoints him or the president, but once he is appointed he is head of an institution,” he said.

Coming to his tenure as the governor of Punjab, he spoke about the queen of England’s visit to Pakistan, and Lahore. “It was her first visit abroad after Diana’s death. I was impressed by the extent of planning by Buckingham Palace ahead of her visit. She wanted pictures of everyone here, down to the last guard as she wanted to know everyone by name. That’s how she puts one at ease from the very beginning,” he said, while remembering another incident with Queen Elizabeth.

“She likes carpets. And I had emptied our dining hall to lay out Pakistani carpets for her. She took off her stockings and walked on each one as she said it was the best way to get the feel of a carpet. When finally she selected one, she asked its price and raised an eyebrow on hearing it. Then she wanted to bargain,” he recalled.

Earlier, sharing his impressions about the book, former federal secretary Mueen Afzal said that he had known Mr Hamid since 1960 when they were students in the UK. Later, he also got to know him better when they joined civil service in 1964. “He has undoubted intellectual ability with wit and humour that is also expressed in the book. Our friendship spans over 60 years.”

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2021